Cardi’s legal team was in court Monday — without the rapper — for a hearing about the August incident. We’re told prosecutors expressed their frustration that Cardi herself was a no-show considering they’ve already given her a 6-week extension on the case … so they asked the judge to issue a bench warrant.

The judge denied the immediate request, but did issue a serious warning — Cardi must appear in court Friday morning — or there will most likely be a warrant issued.

Cardi’s defense team also revealed in court they’ve been having a tough time getting in touch with her directly — instead only communicating through Cardi’s management team — and only found out Thursday Cardi had a prior commitment that would prevent her from attending Monday’s hearing.